A drone originating from Romania exploded in close proximity to the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, triggering fresh warnings over European energy corridor vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, regional shipping risks in the Middle East escalated after another missile strike targeted an Emirati oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
Global market
Global energy and oil specialist Salama warned that the Strait of Hormuz could remain closed for up to a year because Iran refuses to alter its negotiating stance with the US. These maritime transport anxieties were highlighted when an oil vessel operated by Abu Dhabi’s state-owned ADNOC was targeted by a missile strike in the Strait of Hormuz, though no casualties were reported. Concurrently, Iraqi Oil Minister Basem Mohammad Khudair announced that all of Iraq’s oil fields are technically prepared to resume crude production at previous levels, provided a secure operating environment is established for foreign energy firms. In North Africa, operational safety remains a concern as a drone collided with a naphtha storage tank at the western Zawiya refinery in Libya, causing a localized fuel leak.
Russia & CIS
The Zaporizhzhia NPP briefly lost its external power supply for the third time this week due to technical malfunctions, though grid connection was restored in less than an hour, according to the station’s press service and the IAEA. In southern Russia, Seversky district head Alexey Cheverev confirmed that the fire at the Ilsky refinery, caused by falling drone debris, has been successfully extinguished, though the number of injured workers has risen to six. In response to recent infrastructure attacks, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that its forces conducted strikes against Ukrainian logistics facilities and transport-energy infrastructure. To secure regional heating, Kherson region Governor Volodymyr Saldo ordered the fuel and energy ministry under Pavel Savransky to build up a three-fold coal reserve ahead of the heating season, with current warehouse stocks sitting at 30,000 metric tons.
Armenia
While direct domestic fuel price updates were absent in Armenia today, regional transit corridors faced severe security alerts. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev announced that a drone originating from Romania exploded near the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, which links Turkey and Ukraine. The blast occurred just 200 meters from a Romanian compressor station and 1,000 meters from a Bulgarian facility.
For Armenia, any disruption to regional pipelines highlights the extreme fragility of nearby energy corridors. Yerevan’s ongoing integration within the EAEU remains a critical anchor for domestic price stability, ensuring that bilateral supply agreements insulate local retail consumer rates from highly volatile tariff swings driven by international market price assessments.
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